For the past several years kettlebells have been getting a lot of attention in the fitness and health community. These bells are basically a weighty cast iron ball with a handle on top. It’s usually used to do a variety of single-handed exercises, which include quick, explosive exercises that really work the muscles in your body. The great thing about using kettlebells is you can perform them with a full range of motion, which means you can target a larger area of the body, build strength faster, and give your muscles a more complete workout. Read on to learn how to properly use these weights to get the results you’re looking for.
One of the most common uses for these bells is for shoulder and hip muscle conditioning. If you do a traditional squat where you stand up and balance on two kettlebells with your feet shoulder width apart, you’re working your quads and glutes to a hard right angle. This targets the front part of your thighs and puts a tremendous amount of force on your quads. You will definitely feel the burn in your butt and lower back whenever you do this exercise. To avoid injury, do squats with a bit of an incline to help keep your back straight and prevent any unnecessary slipping or falling onto the floor.
Another one of the main benefits of kettlebells is for building strength. A well-rounded workout like this requires a good balance between the front, back, and side to really work all the muscles in your body. Kettlebells also work out your core because of the way you use them. Typically, when you use them for core strength, you will rotate your shoulders or hips. With kettlebells you simply swing them from side to side instead. This forces your core muscles to work much harder and builds a lot more muscle density than just lifting standard weights.
Kettlebells are great for cardio because of the way they allow you to do a full range of motion without bringing the weight down all the way. This means that you can get a more intense workout than you could with standard weight lifting because you can target more muscles with each rep. Plus, if you have to rest during your workout, you are not putting stress on your back. Standard weight lifting also does not give you a full range of motion because you have to keep your back straight and keep your arms moving. Kettlebell training gives you a full range of motion that is not possible with just dumbbells.
One of the best things about kettlebells is that you can incorporate them into any type of workout to create new workouts you may not have tried before. For example, if your goal is to become stronger, you can do quick squats with the ball between your legs, while still holding the same weight as before. This is called the rack position. You can do slow squats with the bell hanging from between your feet, while keeping the same weight as before. You can do some pretty intense workouts using just the kettlebells.
Kettlebell swings are another common exercise you can do with kettlebells. You can hold a normal weight in both hands or use one hand which has a slightly lighter weight. You swing the other hand under your chin so that it forms a circle with your fingers pointing out. Then just swing back and forth like you are swinging a club.
Kettlebells squats are the most basic kettlebell exercises out there. However, there are many other exercises you can do with the bell such as the single-arm and multi-arm kettlebell swings. With the single-arm swing, you use just one arm at a time while the multi-arm swing uses both hands. The goblet exercise is a great way to work your glutes, hamstrings, and quads without using your entire body. With these exercises you will definitely feel the workout in your legs, stomach, hips, and buttocks.
Kettlebells floor presses are another way to get the best workout with kettlebells. The floor press involves standing with the ball between your feet and holding it above your head, making sure it is at shoulder level. From there, you just start positioning yourself so that you are about two to three inches off the ground, making sure that you are leaning forward, with your arms extended straight down, and your palms resting on the front of your feet. From there, just make sure that you push off with your legs and use enough momentum to move your body through the momentum to a standing finish.